Container



Jan. 12, 1943. I TANNER 2,308,128

CONTAINER Filed July 15, 1940 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 Jan. 12, 1943. A. J. TANNER CONTAINER Filed July 15, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 12, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

CONTAINER Arnold J. Tannery North Haven, Conn.

Application July 15, 1940, Serial No. 345,554

4 Claims.

The present invention has relation to folding containers or receptacles useful for packing, displaying, and dispensing merchandise, and one object of the invention, amongst others, is to provide an efficient closure means for the container, simple in operation and which permits economical production of the container or receptacle.

Heretofore a type of closure device, generally known as a snaplock, has been extensively used in various forms; With previous examples of such a lock, the body of the container is composed of a sheet blank so creased and foldedand having its ends adhesively united to form a band-like structure of rectangular or square shape having side and end walls and these walls have folding flaps extending therefrom. Said flaps when folded inwardly, meet each other edge to edge when brought into the same plane with each other. One of said flaps is provided with a tongue, an oppositely disposed flap is provided with a recess and said tongue is adapted to enter and fit within said recess. Said recess is cut out in the flap lying opposite to the tongue carrying fiap and in an alternative form, the recess is formed between oppositely disposed companion or side flaps.

The purpose of the present invention is to improve closure devices heretofore known, for example, as shown and described in my Patent No. 2,229,426, dated January 21, 1941. With the present improvement the aforesaid flaps will be held in an interlocking position so that when the container is subjected to a twisting or torsional strain there can be no play or movement of the locking device which might tend to lessen the rigidity of the container.

Closure devices of the class in which this invention belongs, are operated simply by folding the flaps inwardly in proper order and then inward pressure is applied to the tongue carrying flap so that all the flaps will automatically interlock together and portions of said flaps overlapping each other will stiffen or reinforce the closure means so as to eliminate accidental opening of the carton.

The improved lock will be more fully described in detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a container showing the closure device in a partly closed position;

Figure 2 is a plan view looking downwardly container of a conventional form to which the,

present invention is applied;

Figure 6 is a bottom plan view illustrating a previously proposed form of closure device;

Figure '7 is a front elevation of a telescoping container in which the improved closure device is applied to both members of the container;

Figure 8 is a front elevation .of an angular shaped container or receptacle shown in a forwardly tilted position;

Figure 9 is a section on line 99 of Figure 8 with a portion of the receptacle broken away;

Figure 10 is a plan view of the blank of which the angular shaped receptacle is constructed; and,

Figure 11 is a bottom plan showing the invention applied to a hexagonal shaped container or receptacle.

Referring to said drawing's, in Figure 5 the blank illustrated is for a container of a conventional kind having front wall I, back wall 2, and end walls 3, and depending flaps a, bb, and c, which provide closure means for the container.

Following the conventional form of container, the back wall 2 has the extension 4 which is partly cut out so as to fold to form both a cover and a display card 5 for the container and tuckin folding flap B provides means for holding the extension 4 in place. The flap c depending from the front wall is provided with a dovetail tongue or end 1 and the flap a has a straight bottom edge 8, broken by a pair of notches 9 spaced apart equal to the distance between the points cc' so that when said flaps a--c are folded into the same plane with each other, said notches 9 enage said tongue and prevent any lateral movement or play which would tend to lessen the rigidity of the closure device.

In the embodiment of the invention, as illustrated, companion flaps b-b, located at each side of the flap 0, preferably have an angular straight edge [0 which, when said flaps b are folded in the same plane as the other flaps, are engaged within the notches 9 and interlock with said tongue 1 at the points 0' and when so interlocked the portion b lies under the flap cand the portion b" lies over the flap a, as shown'in Figure 3.

When the improved closure means is in its closed position the tongue 1 carriedby flap 0 lies under the flap a and the portion a of the flap a .overlies flap 0. In this position, as shown in Figure 4, a double lap is provided which extends on both sides of a center line which lies across the point of intersection of the notches 9 with the edges of flaps b-b and the tongue I. This double lap tends to strengthen the closure against accidental opening of the same due to the outward pressure of the contents of the container.

In the operation of the improved device, the blank of the container is formed in the usual manner and as apparent from Figure 1, the first operation is to fold the flap a, then flaps b are folded over flap a and the final operation is to fold the flap c and press this flap inwardly so that the tongue 1 of flap c will be brought under the flap a and when so placed the flaps b will overlap and underlap the other flaps and the edges thereof and said tongue will be engaged within the adjacent notches 9 so as to hold all flaps in an interlocked position.

In Figure 6 an example of a previously proposed lock is illustrated and in this form the construction is substantially the same as above described with the exception that the spaced notches 9 are not provided in the straight edge of flap a at the point of intersection of the tongue 1 with the edges of the diflferent flaps, With this prior construction it was found that considerable play occurs when torsional strain was which the present invention is applied. This construction is similar in all respects to the previously described example with the exception that the walls of the receptacle are inclined inwardly and in this form the improved construction provides a suitable berry basket, for example.

Berry baskets are usually furnished to the con sumer in a set-up condition and are packed so that the baskets nest one within the other and with this invention this custom may be followed. In this case the baskets are set up simply by closing the bottom by folding and engaging the closure flaps in the manner hereinbefore .described.

In practice, to meet requirement, berry baskets must be rigid in their construction, and accordingly, the improved basket is preferably constructed of comparatively heavy folding box board or a comparatively lightweight co. rugated paper board may be used.

With the example first described herein the blank, folding on crease lines parallel with one another, may be conveniently folded and glued with an automatic machine which facilitates production and reduces the cost of the container. With a structure such as a berry basket, for example, having angular or tapering walls, the gluing operation cannot conveniently be effected by machine gluing and especially so if the board used is comparatively heavy. To overcome this difliculty it is customary to stitch the ends of the blank together to form a collapsed structure which is set up by closing the bottom closure means. The stitching operation may be desired such instances where the receptacles are shipped from the factory in the set up position hand operation of stitching and setting up the basket tends to retard production and increase the cost of the basket. Considerable advantage would be obtained in the production, packing and shipping if the blanks were delivered to the consumer in a flat, unfolded condition and to per-'- mit this a locking device has been designed which will enable the consumer to readily set up the baskets as required for use.

The lock designed for uniting the ends of the blank shown in Figures 8, 9, and 10, comprises tabs II and I2 oppositely disposed. These tabs are formed one at each end of the blank and are so arranged that they will interlock together and thus hold the two ends of the blank firmly together. This lock acts conjunctively with the bottom closure lock to hold the structure in a rigid set-up position and with this arrangement the baskets may be delivered either in a set-up position and nested together, or as previously.

stated, the consumer may set the baskets up as they are required for use.

The invention hereinbefore described may be applied to other styles of containers or recep-- tacles. For example, the back wall of the receptacle shown in'Figure 8 may have an extension extending upwardly therefrom to provide a showcard and thus form a counter display basket. Furthermore, thereceptacle may be of hexagonal shape and in this case the only change required would be to duplicate the side flaps b as shown in Figure 11.

Various modifications may be made in carrying out the details of the inventionhereinbefore described, and it is to be understood that any modification coming fairly within the term of the appended claims shall be .covered thereby.

I claim:

1. A container of the character described comprising a body having a plurality of walls, closure means for the body, said means comprising a folding flap extending from each of said walls, one flap carrying a tongue, an oppositely located flap having an outer edge formed with a pair of spaced, inwardly extending notches, said notches each having two edges converging inwardly from the edge of said flap, said notches engaging the tongue at both sides thereof when said flaps are brought into the same plane with each other,

companion side flaps having angular edges in-' terlocking with the notched flap and tongue at the point of intersection determined by said notches and said notched flap overlapping said tongue beyond the intersection point.

2. A container having a plurality of walls, closure means for said container, said means comprising a folding fiap extending from each of said walls, one of the flaps carrying a locking tongue, an oppositely disposed flap having a pair of separate, spaced apart, V-shaped notches extending inwardly from its outer edge, said notches forming a tab portion between them on said flap, said notches engaging the tongue at each side thereof and causing the tab portion disposed between them to overlie a face of the flap on which the tongue is formed, and companion side flaps having converging edges entering said notches when all ofthe flaps are folded into the same plane with each other.

3. A container of the character described having flaps extending from each wall thereof, said flaps folding inwardly and meeting each other when brought into the same plane with each,

other, one of said flaps having a tongue, an oppositely disposed flap provided with a pair of ly in overlapping relation from the sides of the container, one flap having a. dovetail tongue formed at its end, an oppositely located flap having spaced notches extending inwardly from its end and forming a tab portion between them, the tongued flap having angular side edges disposed in said notches and having its tongue overlying the inside face of the notched flap, the notched flap having its tab portion overlying the outer face of the tongued flap, the remaining flaps having tapered end portions engaging the notches.

ARNOLD J. TANNER. 

